EVENTS
Oorvani programmes help our civic community understand urban challenges at a city and neighbourhood level, and develop their agency and problem-solving skills to find solutions. Find updates from our recent events.
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A Citizen Journalism programme with a focus on migration
The last month of 2025 saw Oorvani Foundation host the Everyday Stories Lab 2025 — a series of intensive training sessions spread over two weeks, aimed to transform citizens with no training or prior experience in journalism, into storytellers and potential…
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Cleaning for Change: Lessons from Change-makers Across India
The Oorvani Change Network recently convened its third session, ‘Cleaning for Change’, bringing together civic leaders from Mumbai, Bengaluru and Chennai to discuss how citizen-led efforts are transforming public spaces. Moderated by Shruti Gokarn, a reporter for Citizen Matters, the…
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Chennai: How to save a lake
Chennai, like many Indian cities, once had a beautiful system for water management. When the water reached the maximum capacity in one lake, it cascaded into the next lake almost seamlessly. As a result of rapid and unplanned urbanisation, today…
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Masterclass: Clean Mumbai starts with you
On 12th September, Oorvani Foundation conducted a masterclass for Mumbaikars with an active interest in waste management, to learn about the waste lifecycle in the city and what they could do to prevent the bulk of their generated waste from…
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Ripples of Change: Community action for revival of waterbodies
After the success of the first event in the series ‘Oorvani Change Network- Learning from the Doers’, part2 of the series focused on waterbody rejuvenation. On 30th August, 2025, we had three individuals from Chennai, Navi Mumbai and Pune share…
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Finding solutions for Mumbai’s urban heat challenges
On June 7th, OpenCity.in in collaboration with the Maharashtra State Climate Action Cell, under the Ministry of Environment, Government of Maharashtra organized and conducted the Mumbai Urban Heat Datajam. This was followed by a workshop for city officials, to empower…
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Paving the Way: Community Action for Sustainable Urban Mobility
On Friday, July 18, 2025, Oorvani Foundation hosted the first session of ‘Oorvani Change Network – Learning from the Doers’, a series that spotlights changemakers actively shaping their cities. The theme of the first session was urban mobility, and we…
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Treated used water: A resource waiting to be tapped
Urban India is increasingly waking up to a pressing reality — water stress is not a future threat; it’s a current crisis. At the heart of this challenge lies not just a scarcity of fresh water, but an under utilization…
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India Civic Summit 2025: Citizen action for climate
The India Civic Summit 2025, held on 8th February 2025, brought together over 150 civic leaders, urban practitioners, grassroots changemakers, and engaged citizens to explore solutions for climate-resilient cities. Unlike a conventional conference, this was a convening of practitioners, where…
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From dreams to real-life stories
We recently partnered with Dream a Dream, an NGO empowering young people from marginalised backgrounds, to host a session on storytelling for 25 participants on December 29th in Bommanahalli, Bengaluru. In the session, we explored the role of media in…
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Action Workshop on Urban Street Design
Last week, we experimented with a new format learning session called the “action workshop”. The goal was to help participants learn and gain a clear understanding of next steps. On Saturday, 5th October 2024, an action-oriented workshop titled “Urban Street…
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Multimedia storytelling workshop in Vyasarpadi
There was enough food for thought as the Oorvani Foundation conducted a multi-media journalism workshop for the Vyasai Thozhargal community group on July 13th and 14th in Chennai. Vyasai Thozhargal is a team of first-generation graduates, who have used education…
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Masterclass on Urban Mobility: Why is there traffic?
Why is there traffic in our cities? Is it because of narrow roads, clogged junctions, too many vehicles, or poor public transport? What kind of infrastructure can solve our traffic problem – wider roads, flyovers, elevated roads, better footpaths, cycle…
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A deep dive into understanding lake assets
As part of the Citizen Journalism for Changemakers – CJC Programme, Oorvani Foundation organised a masterclass on Urban lakes on 29th September. The session was aimed at engaging citizens in a discourse on lake rejuvenation/management. About thirty-five participants attended the 2-hour masterclass…
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Civic changemakers connect and share insights
Our annual roundtable saw civic changemakers exchange knowledge and experiences of working to build better cities.